Vertical Multi Level Farming To Increase Crop Yield
Vertical Multi Level
Farming to Increase Crop
Yield
An Affordable and Feasible design
BySumit Singh
Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Current Status
My Design
Platform Tower
Prototype
Testing
Experimental Groups
Data
Observations and Conclusion
Pros and Cons
Snapshots
Current Status
There are designs of skyscrapers proposed for Vertical farming but the construction and maintenance cost will be very high. So
Vertical farming is not a reality yet.
Moreover, such type of farming will harm small farmers in rural areas.
IImage: Design of a proposed Vertical Farm.(Made in Google Sketchup 6)
My Design
● Low cost Vertical Multi-Level Farm, affordable by small
●
●
●
farmers.
Uses Platform towers made of bamboo and mud tiles.
Cluster of such towers makes a Vertical Multi Level
Farm.
The towers have to be aligned in North-South direction so that east and west are on the sides.
Platform Tower
● 3 level tower made using bamboo tied by ropes and
●
●
paved with mud bricks to hold the soil.
If its width is x then height of second level should be
(1.5x+plants ' height) (the plant to be grown in the field) and the distance between top level and second level should be (x+plants ' height).
To keep the costs low, it would be the best to take value of x as 3 feet.
A Platform Tower
Prototype
For testing my design 's efficiency, I built a prototype using different materials but same measurements.
I tested the prototype with 3 types of plants- green beans, chickpea (gram) and wheat.
Testing
● I observed each plant 's growth over a period of 10 days.
● At first, I planted green beans and observed their growth
●
for 10 days. I did the same for chickpeas (gram seeds) and wheat.
I noted the root length, shoot length and number of leaves of 3 plants from each Experimental Group and
Control Group and took the average numbers for final comparison. Experimental Groups
Data
Data
Data
Observations and Conclusion
● The data shows that there was very less or
Farming to Increase Crop
Yield
An Affordable and Feasible design
BySumit Singh
Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Current Status
My Design
Platform Tower
Prototype
Testing
Experimental Groups
Data
Observations and Conclusion
Pros and Cons
Snapshots
Current Status
There are designs of skyscrapers proposed for Vertical farming but the construction and maintenance cost will be very high. So
Vertical farming is not a reality yet.
Moreover, such type of farming will harm small farmers in rural areas.
IImage: Design of a proposed Vertical Farm.(Made in Google Sketchup 6)
My Design
● Low cost Vertical Multi-Level Farm, affordable by small
●
●
●
farmers.
Uses Platform towers made of bamboo and mud tiles.
Cluster of such towers makes a Vertical Multi Level
Farm.
The towers have to be aligned in North-South direction so that east and west are on the sides.
Platform Tower
● 3 level tower made using bamboo tied by ropes and
●
●
paved with mud bricks to hold the soil.
If its width is x then height of second level should be
(1.5x+plants ' height) (the plant to be grown in the field) and the distance between top level and second level should be (x+plants ' height).
To keep the costs low, it would be the best to take value of x as 3 feet.
A Platform Tower
Prototype
For testing my design 's efficiency, I built a prototype using different materials but same measurements.
I tested the prototype with 3 types of plants- green beans, chickpea (gram) and wheat.
Testing
● I observed each plant 's growth over a period of 10 days.
● At first, I planted green beans and observed their growth
●
for 10 days. I did the same for chickpeas (gram seeds) and wheat.
I noted the root length, shoot length and number of leaves of 3 plants from each Experimental Group and
Control Group and took the average numbers for final comparison. Experimental Groups
Data
Data
Data
Observations and Conclusion
● The data shows that there was very less or
References: Frauenfelder, Mark.(2008, July 31). Interview with Dickson Despommier, vertical farming advocate. Retrieved from http: //boingboing.net/2008/07/31/interview-with-dicks.html Lovejoy, Rachel.(2011, April 11).Is Plant Growth Affected by the Amount of Light Received?. Retrieved from http://www. Mechanical Properties of bamboo.(2002, October 27).Retrieved from http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de/eng/PDFFiles/Mechanical%20properties%20of%20bamboo.pdf Rawat,J.K.,THE STATUS OF BAMBOO AND RATTAN IN INDIA.(n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.inbar. int/documents/country%20report/INDIA.htm Staff,LiveOAK .(2008)Vertical Farms: "Growing Up Sustainably" Vertical Farming:Does it really stack up?(2010, December 9). Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/17647627 Whiting, David.(2011)